Saturday, December 7, 2013

Joining Hands for a Better World: 12.7.13

Last Tuesday I set out on a pre-Christmas challenge — to post a tip a day we can collectively follow with the goal of making the world a better place.

Are you ready to make a commitment?

Today’s Tip: Take the New Haven Healthy City/Healthy Climate Challenge pledge.  

The premise behind the pledge is: Collectively we caused the percentage of carbon dioxide in our air to rise. Collectively we can work to bring it down.
Healthy New Haven/Healthy Climate Challenge is a collective effort of local organizations including the New Haven Bioregional Group,Neighborhood Housing Services of New Haven,Common Ground, CT Fund for the Environment, Yale Office of Sustainability, and New Haven/Leon Sister City Project

To respond to the challenge of climate change and to improve the health of the New Haven community, the groups propose a challenge of their own — pledge to take action that will have immediate positive impacts on local quality of life, and will help mobilize local institutions to create more sustainable, efficient infrastructure.

The pledge requires a commitment to take five steps:

  1. Two days of walking, biking, or public transit a month
  2. Choosing the 100% renewable option on his/her electricity
  3. Two meat-free days a week
  4. Recycling all glass, cans, paper, and plastic and composting
  5. Joining an environmental action alert list

The site suggests websites and other resources to help achieve these goals. 

The organizers urge everyone to “take a lead in creating a healthier lifestyle and community…be realistic, make a plan, and celebrate moving ahead.” They predict we'll all save some money and become healthier as we work to make the world a better place.

If for some reason you can’t do all five steps, I hope you’ll be inspired to take some of them. For example, if you can’t live without your car, at least pool your trips.

And by the way, you can take the pledge WHEREVER you live. A special shout out to my readers in Denmark!

That’s it for today. “See you tomorrow.” 

“All together now,” as the Beatles once sang.  Let’s see how much good we can do over the next few weeks.

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